The disclosure relates generally to a wireless distribution system (WDS), such as a distributed antenna system (DAS), and more particularly to supporting an optical star communications architecture in the WDS based on quad small form-factor pluggable (QSFP) transceivers incorporating internal coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM).
Wireless customers are increasingly demanding digital data services, such as streaming video signals. At the same time, some wireless customers use their wireless communications devices in areas that are poorly serviced by conventional cellular networks, such as inside certain buildings or areas where there is little cellular coverage. One response to the intersection of these two concerns has been the use of DASs. DASs include remote units configured to receive and transmit communications signals to client devices within the antenna range of the remote units. DASs can be particularly useful when deployed inside buildings or other indoor environments where the wireless communications devices may not otherwise be able to effectively receive radio frequency (RF) signals from a source.
In this regard, FIG. 1 illustrates distribution of communications services to remote coverage areas 100(1)-100(N) of a WDS provided in the form of a DAS 102, wherein ‘N’ is the number of remote coverage areas. These communications services can include cellular services, wireless services, such RF identification (RFID) tracking, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), local area network (LAN), and wireless LAN (WLAN), wireless solutions (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Global Positioning System (GPS) signal-based, and others) for location-based services, and combinations thereof, as examples. The remote coverage areas 100(1)-100(N) may be remotely located. In this regard, the remote coverage areas 100(1)-100(N) are created by and centered on remote units 104(1)-104(N) communicatively coupled to a central unit 106 (e.g., a head-end equipment, a head-end controller, or a head-end unit). The central unit 106 may be communicatively coupled to a signal source 108, for example, a base transceiver station (BTS) or a baseband unit (BBU). In this regard, the central unit 106 receives downlink communications signals 110D from the signal source 108 to be distributed to the remote units 104(1)-104(N). The remote units 104(1)-104(N) are configured to receive the downlink communications signals 110D from the central unit 106 over a communications medium 112 to be distributed to the respective remote coverage areas 100(1)-100(N) of the remote units 104(1)-104(N). Each of the remote units 104(1)-104(N) may include an RF transmitter/receiver and a respective antenna 114(1)-114(N) operably coupled to the RF transmitter/receiver to wirelessly distribute the communications services to client devices 116 within the respective remote coverage areas 100(1)-100(N). The remote units 104(1)-104(N) are also configured to receive uplink communications signals 110U from the client devices 116 in the respective remote coverage areas 100(1)-100(N) to be distributed to the signal source 108. The size of each of the remote coverage areas 100(1)-100(N) is determined by the amount of RF power transmitted by the respective remote units 104(1)-104(N), receiver sensitivity, antenna gain, and RF environment, as well as by RF transmitter/receiver sensitivity of the client devices 116. The client devices 116 usually have a fixed maximum RF receiver sensitivity, so that the above-mentioned properties of the remote units 104(1)-104(N) mainly determine the size of the respective remote coverage areas 100(1)-100(N).
The communications medium 112 may be an optical fiber-based communications medium. As such, the remote units 104(1)-104(N) are usually communicatively coupled to the central unit 106 in a star configuration, as shown in FIG. 2. In this regard, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary WDS 200 in which a central unit 202 is communicatively coupled to a plurality of remote units 204(1)-204(M) based on a conventional optical star communications architecture. The central unit 202 is communicatively coupled to the remote units 204(1)-204(M) via a plurality of optical fiber trunks 206(1)-206(M), respectively. Each of the optical fiber trunks 206(1)-206(M) includes an optical fiber(s) for providing a bidirectional point-to-point communications link(s) between the central unit 202 and a respective remote unit among the remote units 204(1)-204(M). In this regard, a total length of optical fibers required for deploying the WDS 200 based on the conventional optical star communications architecture may be very large, thus causing a significant increase in optical fiber material and installation costs. In addition, it may be necessary to install a new optical fiber trunk(s) when a new remote unit(s) needs to be added into the WDS 200, thus causing the optical fiber material and installation costs to further increase. Hence, it may be desired to reduce the total length of the optical fibers in the conventional optical star communications architecture to save optical fiber material and installation costs.
No admission is made that any reference cited herein constitutes prior art. Applicant expressly reserves the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of any cited documents.